LEARN TO SWIM
Throw a baby in the water. Watch them struggle to get to the surface. Watch them struggle to stay on the surface. Watch them figure out how to stay on the surface without struggling. No baby drowns. That is how we teach a baby to swim in the west.
You have been thrown into the immersion water of English. You may be scared, you may be struggling. BUT, you will figure it out and survive.
In 8 years no one has drowned in the Holistic English pool.
Do not use machine translations. They are not even as good as your Chinglish.
My oral English is not as good as my friends, so I have no confidence to talk in public. I’m scared of making mistakes. I’m scared of being laughed at. I was also struggling for how to practice my oral English. However, the professor’s course gives me a chance to make comments on English articles and speak Chinglish. I hope with the help of the course and my own efforts, I will figure it out and survive.
I heard this story before. Promise me to say this is a story. Because most of my friends think teaching a child to swim like this just unbelievable. There will no Chinese mother try to teach their children like this. But I think this may be a useful way to learn English. “To confront a person with the danger of death and he will fight to live” can be accepted by most people, but they will not use this situation on a little baby. Maybe an English environment will help us to improve our oral English, we also need to read much, write much.
EDITOR’S NOTE: TRUE STORY
It gives us a very important lesson that we can learn everything well if we do not have a fear. Babies can learn to swim well when they don’t known where they are and what they do.So we big people will be sure to learn english well if we are put into a english environment and pay much attention to it.So we need the environment if there is not we can create one by some people getting toghter.We exchange iedeas thouthts and somethong else day after day,we soonly find that our english improved without any sense.
I really wonder why people are scared of english and even scared of so many things.If fear can make my english become better or overcome any difficulty,I swear I would throw myself into the pool of fear.So boys and girls,we are still young,aren’t we? Come on,it’s up to you to live in a cowardice or courageously!We will survive just as the baby learning to swim.
It sound like put you into an english environment,but you cann’t speaking english,you have never learn it before,but you will soon overcome it,and master it,because you have to struggle to it,to survive from it.So in China,there are not so much english environment,you have to creat it for yourself,and then put yourself into the pool of english,surely you will soon get through it.
I’ve been read some papers in English these days, something ralated to my major, so difficult to understand when you have to use second language to read, epecially some new developments. I think I am a freshener now! I have to insist on this.
English is not our mother language.Maybe we can’t learn it quickly at first.The reason is not only we lack the English study environment but also we are afraid to express our mind in public in English.We always thought we can’t say standord English and if we speak out, maybe we will be laughted.But now,we are studying in Holistic English course.Chinglish is OK.We don’t care about whether the pronounciation is standord or not, we just need to speak out.We all speak Chinglish and if we can communivate with each other well,it is ok.Steels sharpen steels.
Wow.I am surprise about the way which parents teach their babys to siwm in the west.It is cruel.If the baby can not struggle to stay in the surface ,they will be dangerous.It is unbelivable.But by using the way,it can evoke the baby’s instinct to learn swim,just as we learning English.Even though it is a cruel method,it has its merits.
Yes, if we have been throw into the water of the English, we will struggling out instead of drowning, eventually, speaking English fluent is much easier to us, maybe the environment compel us to study hard in order to survive.
I think that throwing us to a English world is truly a good way to English, but the circumstance we surround is full of Chinese, and when we write something we usually think in Chinese, then write in English. So I think if we can put us to a world without Chinese is a good way to learn English and if we want to learn English well we should make us in a world without Chinese help.
I agree with that environment of speaking English plays an important role in English studying. If all the people around me speak English, I have to speak English. But I am not in English speaking country, it is necessary to create the environment of speaking English. I can find or create it. There are many things that I can do, for instance, I search the English webpage. The attitude is an important factor. I believe that I can do it well.
Once one is immersed into an English spoken environment,he has more chance to speak,listen,and think in English way,so we should make good use of the speaking environment.After taking the holistic English course and the chatting cafe activity,I can speak English more fluently.
If I was throwed into an English world earlier, my English must be better than now. Without a proper English learning method, I have learned English for more than 10 years but sitll can’t communicate fluently with foreigners. I need to create English learning environment for myself.
We are all babies in learning English. English speaking Environment is an essential factor for L2 speakers. According to the survey, when our Chinese people go aboard, we can master English in four mouths. In holistic English course, we spread the spirit which is speak English as much as possible. In this way, we make a progress.
I hope that I was throwed into the water of English and surrouned by English Speaking Environment. Professor Martin is right you can create ESE by yourself. We can do better.
We can read most English articles. But it is hard for us to buy a pen in English. The pool which we need is an English spoken environment. But HIT can’t give us.
I think I have got what the sentence meant. And I really want say thank you to our professor. When I was in the first class, I was a little scary, but now I know the holistic manner is really good for our English.